How to upgrade VCSA 6 to VCSA 6.5

VMware has announced the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 last year. VCSA 6.5 includes many of the new features & performance improvements as compared to previous versions. VCSA 6.5 includes the new & improved Web client for vCenter Management & also includes the whole new HTML5 based web client which can be access from any web browser. New HTML client is not fully functional till now but it will get the full features soon with the updates. VCSA is an alternative option to windows based vCenter Server.

You already know that VCSA is an vCenter Appliance which is used for managing the vSphere objects from a single management console. VCSA 6.5 is built on the VMware’s own photon OS. With new VCSA 6.5 you can directly upgrade the existing VCSA 6 to VCSA 6.5.

In this post we will see on how you can easily upgrade the VCSA 6 to VCSA 6.5. We are trying best to describe the steps in an easiest way possible.

Step 1:
Make the Backup of your existing VCSA 6 first so if something goes wrong you can directly restore the VCSA 6. (You can take snapshot or make clone of the VM)
If you are using external database then also take the backup of it.
Download the VCSA 6.5 ISO from VMware.
Mount the ISO & navigate to following path.
ISO > vcsa-ui-installer > win32
Run the Installer file to start the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 Installer.

Step 3:
VCSA 6.5 Upgrade also consists of 2 stage Deployment & Upgrade procedure.
First we will be Deploying the Appliance in Stage 1.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 4:
Accept the License agreement & click Next to proceed.

Step 5:
As we are upgrading the existing VCSA we have to provide the source VCSA details.
In first section provide the details of your existing VCSA 6.
In second section you can either provide the host on which VCSA 6 is deployed & running currently or if you have multiple vCenter Server Instances running, you can provide its details also.
It’s recommended to use with Host details.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 6:
You will get the Certification warning.
Click yes to continue.

Step 7:
Provide the target ESXi host on which you want to deploy the appliance.
You can use ESXi host or you can also provide the vCenter Server Instance.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 8:
Set the VM name & root password for the vCenter Server 6.5 Appliance.
Click Next to continue.

Step 9:
It will automatically display the deployment size & storage size by analyzing the existing VCSA 6.
If you want you can also change the Deployment size & Storage size if you are planning to expand your environment in future.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 10:
Select the datastore for vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.
You can also Enable Thin Disk mode by checking the checkbox.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 11:
Now we have to configure the Network settings.
First choose the Network from the drop down you can see the available Port Groups of your existing VCSA so choose which one would you like to use.
We have to set the Temporary Network settings because after successful upgradation all the network configuration will be same for the VCSA 6.5 as it was on VCSA 6.
Click Next to proceed.

It will take few minutes to deploy the VCSA 6.5. After successful deployment you will get below screen.
Now we have to proceed with the stage 2 of the Upgrade process.
Click Continue to proceed with stage 2.

Step 13:
We have completed the stage 1 now to proceed with stage 2 click Next.

Step 14:
Now VCSA 6.5 will check the Pre-upgrade tests & you will get some warning like:
Change the DRS mode to Manual from Fully Automatic.
If you are using only IP address you will get warning for Hostname Mappings.
If you have any extensions then also you will get warning.
So check each warning carefully & click on close button to close the Pre-upgrade check result prompt.

Step 15:
Here you can select which data & configuration you want to copy to the new VCSA 6.5 from existing VCSA 6.
Choose which you want to copy & click Next to proceed.

Step 16:
Here you can join the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program.
Click Next to proceed.

Step 17:
Now we are ready to start with the stage 2 Upgrade process.
Check & Verify all the configuration before clicking on Finish because after the upgrade starts you can not make changes to the configuration.
Check the box “I have backup up the source vCenter Server & all the required data from database.”
Click Finish to start the upgrade process.

Now you will get the Warning that VCSA installer will shutdown the existing VCSA 6 after the network configuration completes in new VCSA 6.5
Click OK to close the prompt & start the Upgrade process.

Now as you can see that Upgrade process starts with 3 steps.
In First step VCSA 6.5 installer will copy all the data from existing VCSA.
In Second step new VCSA 6.5 setup will be done & services will be started.
In Third step copied data will be imported to the newly deployed VCSA 6.5.

You can also see the status of each task in the status bar. After successful installation you will see that all the 3 steps have been completed & upgrade process also completed.
You can click on Close button to close the installer wizard.

Now it’s time to access the VCSA 6.5. For accessing the VCSA 6.5 open the browser and type the IP address or hostname whichever you will be using. You will also get those details listed in the wizard.

That’s it we have successfully upgraded the VCSA 6 to new VCSA 6.5. While doing in your company environment take care of the things & steps you are doing. Also make sure you take the appropriate backup.

That’s it for Today Friends. I Hope you liked reading this post & If you find anything more to be added or removed feel free to write it in our comments. If you find it useful You are Feel free to share this on social media to help others & spread knowledge.
If you have any query on any thing you are free to write it in our comments section & we will make sure to provide you the better solution as soon as possible.

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Hi,
I am Mayur Parmar author & founder of this blog. I have created this blog just to share my own knowledge with other's. The posts you will find here are my personal opinions & tested in my personal LAB. It may differ in your environment.
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